Al-Maliki Urges Calm, Warns: Sectarianism Fire will Burn Everyone

Local Editor

Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki warned against growing sectarian violence and urged for calm in the face of rising protests against his leadership.
His remarks come as Iraqi police said Thursday that over 40 people have died in clashes in the northern city of Mosul, reported the Associated Press, the latest flare-up in violence.

Reports of clashes between militants and the country's government in various cities have left many people dead in Iraq over the past several days, upheaval that is clearly being felt in Baghdad.

Maliki addressed the Hawija incident as well as Wednesday's violence in the northern city of Sulaiman Bek in Thursday's speech, saying:
"What happened in Hawija, and what is happening today in Sulaiman Bek and other places, is a point in which we should stop and think because it might lead to sectarian strife. Everyone would lose. Whether he is in the north, the south, east or west of Iraq, if the fire of sectarianism starts, everyone's fingers will be burned by it."

In Mosul, a local police official told AP on Thursday 31 insurgents and 10 officers had been killed there since the day before.
Clashes between government forces and militants in Sulaiman Bek on Wednesday killed scores, with the government resorting to armed helicopters in a bid to stamp out the violence.

On Thursday Shalal Abdool, the mayor of city of Toz Khormatu, which administers Suleiman Beg, said that while gunmen were still in control of the town, the army was besieging it and that there had been sporadic clashes.

"We withdrew tactically so we can work on clearing the area completely, after we knew that the residents had left," one high-ranking army officer told the AFP news agency. "We will clean the region corner by corner, and we will not allow any attack against the safety of citizens."

Source: News Agencies, Edited by moqawama.org